delirium
noun
de·lir·i·um
di-ˈlir-ē-əm 
1
: an acute (see acute sense 1a(2)) mental disturbance characterized by confused thinking and disrupted attention usually accompanied by disordered speech and hallucinations
2
: frenzied excitement
… he would stride about his room in a delirium of joy.—
Thomas Wolfe
Thomas Wolfea crowd in a state of delirium
Examples of delirium in a Sentence
In her delirium, nothing she said made any sense.
shoppers running around in a delirium the day before Christmas
Recent Examples on the Web
Hurley just pressed his head close to say something in the delirium of the moment.
—Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 31 Mar. 2026
In You Dreamed of Empires (2024), the emperor Moctezuma stalks his palace in 1519 Tenochtitlan—today’s Mexico City—in a fog of psychedelic-induced delirium, glammed-out like an Aztec David Bowie.
—Anderson Tepper, Literary Hub, 30 Mar. 2026
But instead of treating those rooms as back of house, OMA packed them into the peak of a short skyscraper, elevating them into sunlit incubators of deliberate delirium poised above the everyday.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 19 Mar. 2026
As delirium begins to take hold, Becky comes to realize that Hunter didn't survive her fall, after all.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for delirium
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Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 31 Mar. 2026
In You Dreamed of Empires (2024), the emperor Moctezuma stalks his palace in 1519 Tenochtitlan—today’s Mexico City—in a fog of psychedelic-induced delirium, glammed-out like an Aztec David Bowie.
—Anderson Tepper, Literary Hub, 30 Mar. 2026
But instead of treating those rooms as back of house, OMA packed them into the peak of a short skyscraper, elevating them into sunlit incubators of deliberate delirium poised above the everyday.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 19 Mar. 2026
As delirium begins to take hold, Becky comes to realize that Hunter didn't survive her fall, after all.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for delirium
Cite this Entry
“Delirium.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delirium. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
delirium
noun
de·lir·i·um
di-ˈlir-ē-əm
1
: a mental disturbance marked by confusion, disturbed speech, and hallucinations
2
: wild excitement
Medical Definition
delirium
noun
de·lir·i·um
di-ˈlir-ē-əm
: an acute (see acute sense 2b(1)) mental disturbance characterized by confused thinking and disrupted attention usually accompanied by disordered speech and hallucinations
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